In recent weeks, Zimbabwe has witnessed an upsurge in Covid-19 local transmission cases and this has left many people what was happening.
Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr John Mangwiro, in an interview on the side-lines of a of a handover ceremony of a donation of Covid-19 drugs by the Indian Embassy in Zimbabwe explained this development.
“The upsurge is a sign that people are mixing up and anyone with Covid-19 virus infection has a possibility of transmitting the same to other people. This is where we are saying let’s remain committed to what the President (Emmerson Mnangagwa) has pronounced, let’s stay at home because staying at home means you are avoiding contact with those people who are infected,” said Dr Mangwiro.
The Health Deputy Minister emphasised on use of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and general hygiene including washing of hands.
“We must keep on washing our hands because our hands can take the virus from point A to point B and people get infected. We must continue to put on our face masks correctly and not to put the mask on the chin and leave your mouth open,” said the Deputy Minister.
Dr Mangwiro added that the upsurge points to the mixing of people who have been local with those coming from other countries.
“It’s a sign that people who are coming from outside especially from South Africa, people are mixing rather than keeping each other safe, we really need to take more care, need to really emphasise on our safety,” said Dr Mangwiro.
A lot of people have since developed a notion that quarantine and isolation centres were prisons where one could be taken to and left to die, but Dr Mangwiro took his time to explain that this was not the case as it was meant to curb the spreading of Covid-19.
“Quarantine means you are being grouped somewhere, where you are going to be checked to see if you had developed the disease, but it does not follow you have the disease.
“Isolation is when you have the disease, but it’s not serious enough to cause you to go to hospital. Those who get serious enough we then take them to High Dependency Unit (HDU) and Intensive Care Unit (ICU),” said Dr Mangwiro.
As a precautionary measure to curb the further spreading of Covid-19 locally,Dr Mangwiro advised on taking serious measures to limit unnecessary movements.
“We need to re-strengthen and refocus like what we were doing in the past so that we remain safe as a nation,” said the Deputy Minister.
Dr Mangwiro dismissed the notion that Covid-19 cases increase in cold weather as compared to hot periods.
“Whether hot or cold, we have not scientifically proved that it gets worse in winter than summer. So an upsurge really means people have weakened on their socialisation,” concluded Dr Mangwiro.
Currently Zimbabwe has 734 confirmed cases, 197 recoveries, with 528 active cases and nine(9) deaths.
